A Miracle Over The Endless Road
by DalSlatyr
Summary: EMIYA finds himself in a strange world filled with sinister creatures and superhumans. He thinks it's all a dream, a sham, no one could free him from Alaya's own prison. However, even with his many doubts, fate is constantly proving him wrong. Maybe there is a happy ending after all.
1. Anomaly

**ERROR: SIDE PROJECT LAUNCHED AHEAD OF SCHEDULE-**

**VARIOUS ISSUES DETECTED**

**INITIATING EDIT SEQUENCE: ...FAILED**

**E-E-ERROR: INTRUSION DETECTED... FAILURE TO COMMENCE PROTECTION PROGRAM- SHUTTING DOWN.**

**?23$%$**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE FATE FRANCHISE OR RWBY**

* * *

Emiya Shirou stared back at him through the reflection in the puddle. The countless bodies of the shadowy creatures had started to vanish, strangely enough.

Archer chuckled. Donning the face of the one he hated the most wasn't something he had planned, nor was it something he wanted. The bronze skin and snowy white hair he had grown used to over the countless centuries as a counter guardian were now gone. His height and muscle mass had also taken a blow, he was now the spitting image of his seventeen year old self.

Despite all of this, his heroic spirit garments had remained a perfect fit, right down to the holy shroud which still clung to his arms regardless of his change. His body still felt foreign after being an adult for so long, but he could adjust to something as small as that. The real problem was that he was reminded of his mistake every painful second, just by existing in this form.

After glancing away, he had given thought to why he was here. He moved of his own accord and felt no sense of urgency, which meant that he wasn't carrying out a job for Alaya. In fact, her presence was gone entirely. Not just that, as far as he could tell, he was himself, not some copy of his actual self sent to fight in his stead.

In that moment, the feeling of freedom had enveloped Archer. Something akin to joy and excitement threatened to drive its way into his heart, stopping only when he caught it and drove it out.

There was a reason for his situation, and when he found it, all of the positive feelings he had would turn into regret alongside more resentment for his younger self.

Still, taking everything odd about this moment into account, Archer found it difficult to not entertain the thought of freedom, regardless of how ridiculous and impossible it seemed.

In this moment, his logical self battled a part of himself that was thought to have died forever ago. It was because of something he had lost after death. Spending countless ages killing those he saught to save tore him apart and killed any semblance of hope he had.

Maybe he was getting soft with age somehow.

Another chuckle broke through, his cool demeanor being overwhelmed with unexplainable feelings.

To think that Rin, someone he had already met before in his own life, had this much influence on him after the 'second' time they met.

Though, even with the newfound hope inside, he had to remember the possibility- no, 'fact' that he wasn't here without a catch. He made a contract with the collective will of humanity and the last time he checked, contracts don't just fade away, especially not one of this scale.

If Alaya wasn't messing with him, then something definitely was. In the end, he would probably just end up back at the hill of swords, waiting for his next cleaning session as humanity's own janitor. He'd go back to being a puppet for Alaya once she came back with new strings.

Yeah, there was no way he was here alive again. After all, something like that would have to be...

_Magic_

* * *

Archer kept walking forward, the muddy path of the dirt road causing his boots to sink slightly. He knew that if he followed the road, he'd find a settlement of some sort. If not, he'd without a doubt cross paths with another living being sometime soon, or a house of some sort beyond the trees that towered over him.

Then again, while this place was large and perfect for a settlement, Archer could think of one thing that would keep people from making a living here. He thought back to the creatures he fought earlier. The malice and hatred they contained as they tried their very best to tear him apart.

If the creatures he had killed were common around this area, or anywhere else, that would definitely drive away any civilization.

One of his concerns were whether or not they spoke any language Archer could understand. Still, he knew a wide range of different languages, so there was still a chance that he'd be able to communicate with any nearby humans.

Archer raised his head higher into the air, staring at the far off end of the sky as he took in the scent of something familiar.

_Fire_

Knowing that it was coming from straight ahead, Archer reinforced his body and dashed forward at full speed. Eyes widened as he realized something that should have been obvious.

Archer wasn't a heroic spirit anymore.

He didn't realize it in his previous battle against the creatures because he was in a bit of a daze. His speed was significantly lower not only because he was younger, but because he was a human again. Even so, it didn't really matter to him, but it was still rather surprising.

With this in mind, he technically couldn't call himself 'Archer' anymore. Well, not in the sense that he usually did. The fact that he was an actual bow-wielding archer, unlike many of the herioc spirits in said catagory, saved him the rights to the title.

His sprint was still faster than a vehichle, so he had more than enough capability to make it to his destination.

Seeing an orange light peeking through the trees, Archer made haste until he spotted the source.

A Village.

What used to be walls were now pikes of fire, what used to be houses were now mere kindling. From the inside, it was probably fire as far as the eye could see. The sight was very similar to one of his only remaining memories from his lifetime.

Dashing straight into the raging inferno, Archer scanned the area, taking note of what he saw.

Many of the creatures he had saw earlier had infected the area. Men dressed in rags and leather ran around, swords and daggers in hand. Neither of the two factions appeared to be good. What he assumed to be the residents of the village were either dead or being chased around by the invaders.

Tracing his favored swords, Archer maintained his sprint.

If the creatures had been watching, all they would have saw was a blur of red and black before everything started to look like the latter. One after another, wolf, bear, or whatever had fallen to the ground only a second after Archer had passed them.

Straight ahead, he caught sight of another one of the wolf-like creatures. This one appeared to be different though. For one, it could see and react to his movements. And then there was the abnormal amount of bone armor in comparison to its brethren.

Skidding to a halt, Archer jumped back into the air, throwing the married blades straight at the foul beast. Flipping back, his momentum carried over and landed his feet onto a tiled rooftop, the practiced motion feeling more forced in his younger body. Watching from his postition, he saw the blades spinning through the air before cutting into the wolf-like creature, splitting it into three.

Satisfied, Archer dispelled the married swords and called upon something else entirely. A crackling of blue light forced its way into existence before extending horizontally. Remaining thin, it took the shape of something large before disappearing. In the wake of the blue energy remained Archer's favored artillery bow.

Of course, Archer wouldn't be able to draw it back all the way in this body, but he didn't need to. He wasn't going to fire noble phantasms, so he modified the draw weight with alteration, making it lighter as he traced an arrow in his free hand.

Taking sight of nearly a dozen the invading soldiers scattered around a clearing, some of the men were trying to break into a few of the standing houses, which no doubt sheltered several villagers inside. Archer turned the bow upright and nocked the arrow. Lining up the shot with the man furthest from the group, he pulled the bowstring back before releasing it.

The arrow soared throughout the air silently before it pierced through his skull, blood splattering out of the point of entry and exit alike. His body fell to the ground, his equipment clattering over the concrete in the process. The noise, however slight it was, didn't go unnoticed by a few of the men closer to the scene.

Even though many of them were now alerted, it was too late. Archer traced another arrow, repeating the same process with a new target and so on. His firing speed was beyond anything humanly possible, each of the men falling within less than seconds of each other.

If he had to guess, Archer would say that it took five seconds to eliminate all of his targets.

After confirming that there were no remaining enemies, Archer looked to the tallest building in the area and jumped onto it with reinforced strength. After which, he stood at the edge of the flattened rooftop to eliminate any remaining threats with his arrows.

It was only after there were none left that an interesting thought passed his mind.

This was very similar to his Counter Guardian work, he was dropped off next to a disaster after all.

But Alaya would only summon him to clean up a mess that threatened humanity. Unless... was this place special in some way? Was there perhaps something or someone inside of it that was vital to the survival of humanity?

No, that couldn't be it. Alaya wouldn't give him the reigns, and he wouldn't be human, let alone his younger-self. Which meant that this was most likely not the work of Alaya.

But then what was it that brought him here?

Archer sighed, scanning the village for survivors before jumping down from the building.

* * *

Ozpin closed his eyes, feeling the relief of rest wash over them instantly. Raising the rim of his coffee mug to his lips, he raised it and let the warm liquid flow into his mouth.

Right on time, his assistant came walking over, carrying a small stack of papers along with a professional demeanor.

"I take it those are the reports from yesterday's situation?"

Glynda set the stack down neatly over the desk in front of the headmaster. "Yes, as strange as they may be."

Ozpin nodded, setting the mug down on the other side of the wooden surface. "I take that to mean something peculiar has happened?" He asked, raising one of the sheets to his face.

"Yes." Glynda nodded, lifting two of her fingers up to her glasses to make adjustments. "As it turns out, a huntsman had arrived and managed reduced the number of casualties."

"'A huntsman?'" Ozpin questioned.

Glynda nodded once more. "It was worrysome to hear about initial reports sent from our hunter squad, especially since the situation was urgent. However, according to their latest word, the villagers had already been rescued by a huntsman."

Ozpin took another sip from the mug, placing it down as he spared a glance at his assistant. "Did they perhaps ask the residents anything else about their mysterious savior?"

Glynda met his eyes, holding out another paper, this one appearing a little different. "According to some of the survivors who were conscious during the attack, he used a bow."

Ozpin took the bottom of the paper between his thumb and index finger, bringing it closer to look at the image.

It was a child's drawing. A young girl in a blue dress stood with her mother who wore a white dress. Together over a bed of flowers, they were happily cheering for something on the far left of the picture. A man dressed in green, wielding a bow and arrow, a caption over his head reading 'Daddy'. However, it wasn't any of this that caught Ozpin's attention, it was what stood next to the girl's apparent father in the drawing.

A man dressed in black and red, a larger black bow in his hand. He stood next to the girl's father, slaying what looked to be creatures of grimm. Over his head was another caption, one carrying a rather simplistic title.

'Archer'

"Would I be right to assume the one in red is the Huntsman?" Ozpin asked.

Glynda nodded a third time today. "You would. They say he stayed behind and safe guarded everyone until the Hunters we sent appeared. Apparently, he left just as they arrived."

Was he trying to stay hidden? "How convenient." Ozpin lowered the paper, looking to Glynda. "There must be something else, otherwise this would be a normal case."

Glynda walked around to the other side of the desk. Now being capable of making eye contact with the headmaster, she did so. "He was young." Seeing Ozpin quirk a brow, she continued. "Too young, actually. Some of the villagers stated that he couldn't be any older than eighteen."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed, the image of Glynda shrinking behind the inside of his mug as he drank from it. Finding the mug to be empty after a few sips, he placed it down on the desk yet again. "This is indeed interesting. I look forward to hearing the story behind this one."

Reaching for the empty mug, he grasped it and stood from his chair. "Let me know if you hear anything else about this mysterious huntsman, Glynda."

Turning around, he faced the window, staring out into the vast world for a mere moment. Somewhere out there was a mystery, a potential ally or enemy. Without a doubt, Ozpin knew they'd cross paths.

* * *

**AN:**

_Hey there!_ You made it! All the way through and all! Well... it was only 2,000 or so words. You aren't cavemen, right?

Ah! If only Dal were here, I'd like to see what kind of glare I'd get for leaking a story early. Well, not like it matters. After all, Dal is far too lazy to do anything about it.

Though, you must be confused about something... Who am I?- What? You don't care? Then- GET OUT.

I'm new here, a permanent addition! Now if only I could get my hands on that BOLD letter button, I look so bland! Oh well, it doesn't matter... Because...

_We're going to have SO! MUCH! FUN!_


	2. Encounter

It appeared that the directions Archer got from the villagers' a week ago were correct. Reinforcing his vision, he could see the tip of a rather tall building in the distance. Though it wasn't a skyscraper, it was still of a height and make to suggest that it belonged to a city of some kind. After confirming the information, he turned away, stepping off of the tree branch he was standing on and letting gravity take over.

Reinforcing his body, Archer bent his knees and performed a somersault upon impact with the dirt road. After the maneuver was completed, he walked in the direction of the civilization. The path to the city was rather long, but thankfully, he was used to long and quiet hikes through rural areas and the city wasn't even that far.

A sudden rustling in the bushes had caught his attention.

_Something was coming._

And something did come.

Reinforcing his body once again, Archer kicked off the ground as he twisted his waist. His push off the ground was enough to level him with the creature he now knew was an Alpha Beowolf, allowing him to deliver the steel-crushing reinforced kick to the creature's neck.

Within a blink of an eye, Archer's steel-tipped boot dug into its flesh, forming a rather grotesque crater on the right side of the creature's face. The armored bone mask shattered and split apart from the force of the kick, shards and bone splinters flying in various directions as the Beowolf was sent into the air.

The creature traveled a short distance before being interrupted by a tree, causing even more damage to the fatally wounded Grimm. Sliding off of the tree, the creature soon broke down into shadowy particles before disappearing all together.

Archer had managed to learn the name of the more wolf-like creatures without rousing suspicion in the villagers. They were called 'Beowolves' and they traveled in packs much like real wolves. Though what he really found interesting was the fact that all creatures of Grimm were attracted to negative emotion.

_They came at him in hordes when he arrived._

Archer glanced up at the few remaining Beowolves, only to find them running off at the sight of their leader being demolished so easily.

Keeping his guard raised, Archer kept on walking, several questions surfacing in his mind.

'_Just what kind of world is this?_'

'_What is my goal here?_'

'_If left to my own devices, what would I do?_'

As for the first thought, Archer had a bit of a grasp on the world he resided in. He had masterfully pieced together bits of information gained from different people while maintaining his unknown status. Apparently, this world was overrun by these creatures referred to as the 'Grimm', creatures with overwhelming strength, and an equally overwhelming hatred for mankind.

Mankind however, was not entirely helpless. From what he absorbed from the context of most of his conversations, there were those who dedicated their lives to fighting the Grimm. They were referred to as 'Huntsmen and Huntresses', defenders of humanity and hunters of Grimm.

Which also meant that he didn't have to change his clothes, seeing as he was easily confused for a young Huntsman. Posing as a Huntsman would be dangerous, but he knew when and how to do it. Then again, no one would punish him for wearing bullet proof armor and a holy shroud. Though, it wasn't like anyone would know that his attire served such a purpose.

Regardless, Archer knew better than to trust humanity. He experienced the power of those dark creatures firsthand, and while he'd have to see how strong a Huntsman is to accurately assess the situation, he didn't really need to in order to guess that they were fighting a losing battle.

The fact that the small village called in for a team of Huntsman raised some big questions as well. It also told Archer that Huntsman probably weren't all too common, which also plays a rather big part in the 'losing battle' theory of his.

On another note, there were humanoid lifeforms with animal features which were called the 'Faunus'. Archer had met a few of them in the village, and from them he had learned a lot about their kind. They weren't all that welcome in most places because of the differences between them and humans.

The few faunus he spoke to were surprised to see that he harbored no ill will toward them. Archer had seen this type of discrimination many times before, but it still bothered him at how little it took for people to start hating each other. There was no logic behind any of it. He had long ago stopped questioning this kind of behavior, stuff like this wouldn't change and there was no point in him wasting energy thinking too hard about it.

And that was all he knew about the world he was brought to, which was quite a lot, but still minuscule in the long run.

As for the second thought, he didn't have an answer. He didn't exactly know what he was supposed to do here, if anything. For now, his only objective was to find civilization, an objective he was rather close to completing.

And finally, for the third... He didn't know. Archer never thought that he'd escape the hell that was serving Alaya, constantly forced to kill the people he sought to save, again and again for all of eternity. A question like this one would take a while to answer. But even then, he'd have to be fast, time passed by very fast for someone his age, whatever that was.

He told his younger self something during the grail war... '_I fight for myself._' But even so, he never thought it would come to this. That was _if_ he was actually free, but the topic of his freedom was another thing all together.

Perhaps once he died again, he'd end up back there, on that hill of swords where he'd spend his days awaiting fate's cruel summoning.

Maybe then, his still foolish self would wake up and realize that his freedom was all a dream.

Still walking, Archer abandoned his thoughts at the sound of distorted growling. It turns out that pessimists weren't meant to survive in this world, how lucky of him.

* * *

"What's taking so long?!"

Velvet sighed quietly, working this part time job wasn't exactly the best idea she had. As it turned out, few people wanted to visit a cafe that was run by a faunus, nor did they want to be served by one such as herself. She had been subjected to complaints and harassment from various people who held disdain for the faunus.

She would probably stop coming here once she finished up for the week. Being as shy as she was, it was getting pretty difficult to work when people would publicly express their hate for her. Coco would sometimes visit, but that made things worse in her opinion. The only thing worse than getting harassed was having a friend there to see it happen. Not that a friend would stand by, but it was more for their sake that she was worried. Her friends would be sad if they ever found out how often it happened.

Then again, she never got harassed or bullied whenever Coco was around, something she so very innocently attributed to luck. Though, regardless of her worries, she was happy that a friend came by to see her every now and then.

However, Coco was not here today. The cafe was oddly busy and Velvet had to take several orders, hurrying as to not angry the customers. One brown haired customer in particular looked to be pretty rowdy and impatient. Velvet could see him sitting cross-armed at one of the tables, tapping his foot in anticipation.

Finishing up the final cup of coffee, she placed it onto a tray that rested in her other hand. Safely, she made haste to the dining area, her training and semblance allowing her to perfectly utilize the skills of an experienced waitress to keep the tray stable.

Even some of the more experienced employees couldn't even hope to walk the speeds that she was able to. Regardless of the girl's skill and ability, a few of them still watched with worried expressions, silently praying that she wouldn't drop anything, especially with the way that the customers were.

Fortunately, they didn't have a thing to worry about. Leaving the back area, Velvet silently apologized to the brown haired man in her head. His order was not ready and Velvet probably gave him false hope. Resolving herself, she was able to walk past him without feeling too embarrassed.

_Or so she thought._

As she reached the midpoint with the intent to pass his booth, she felt something collide with her lower right leg near her ankle. She managed to regain her balance and save herself from going to first base with the hardwood floor, but the same couldn't be said for the coffee.

The tray tipped and flew out of her hand momentarily before she caught the rim, but the coffee wasn't glued to the tray and it decided to prove it to her by flying away from it. The four cups traveled two feet in the air before finding their newest victim.

"I- I..." Velvet took a deep breath, trying not to panic. "I'm so sorry!" She shouted, running over to said victim.

The breakfast drink found its way onto an auburn-red haired and golden eyed man... or boy? He was wearing an armored black combat vest with white accents outlining his muscular form. Scarlet cloth sleeves covered his arms down to the wrists, where it met with a gray gem that rested on the back of his hands.

The same kind of red cloth came in the form of a fauld that hung at the sides and back of his lower body, held in place by a metallic belt buckle. His black pants were not only darkened even further with coffee, but also wrapped in numerous belts that clung to his legs. The pants appeared to be connected to the shoes, which were steel tipped and had medium armor coverage.

He had the appearance and air of a Huntsman, yet he was so young. His age caused Velvet to believe that the boy may have been a huntsman in training, and that was exactly why she would continue cautiously.

A brief silence ensued, cause her already fast heart rate to climb further. "I- I tripped..." The girl spoke almost inaudibly, trying to look away from the boy without appearing to be rude.

The red haired boy looked ahead with apathetic eyes, he didn't seem angry in the sense that most people were expecting.

"Looks like you didn't come here to pick up women." He said, his tone oddly mature for what he looked like.

"H- huh?" Velvet questioned, barely sounding her confusion at the boy's statement.

The boy ignored her. Instead, he stared at the man to her right. "You should apologize."

"Huh?" The brown haired man sounded dumbfounded, giving the boy a look of irritation. "What are you on about, kid? This animal was taking too long with the order, it probably just collapsed from exhaustion. Talk about poor service."

The boy sighed and crossed his arms. "You're the one who chose to come here, you have little reason to complain... unless of course, you're just some pervert who actually wanted to be served sabotaged coffee."

"What was that?!" The man shouted in anger at the suggestion. Standing up from his seat, he stared down at the boy and tried to be as intimidating as possible.

"You could probably be charged with some form of harassment for your current behavior. That is if you stick around long enough." The redhead spoke calmly, seemingly not affected by his simple intimidation strategy. "Then again, anyone with basic thinking ability would get out of here before it came to that. But let's not forget who it is we're talking about here." He added, looking to Velvet as he insulted the delinquent's intelligence.

The man stepped forward, his arm out as he reached for the collar of the boy's red vest. "That's it, ki-!"

"The authorities are on their way!"

The man stopped in his tracks, turning to his left to see a tall woman with short blonde hair holding a phone. She was staring at him with an angry expression, much like most of the people in the cafe. For a moment, the man stood still, his arm still outstretched as he contemplated over whether or not getting revenge was worth going to jail.

After debating with himself and somehow losing, he turning on his heels and dashed out of the cafe, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Once he was gone, Velvet looked back to the boy only to see that he was missing? She jumped slightly at the shock of finding the space he once occupied to be empty.

And then scolded herself internally once she glanced to her right and spotted him. He was now seated in the chair that the harasser had left behind, the sight of his legs being crossed and extended, while his arms were crossed and his eyes closed gave the illusion that he was either sleeping, or very relaxed.

Hesitantly, she stepped closer to him. Out of habit, she approached him carefully, after all, she didn't know why he saved her. For all she knew, he could've hated faunus and only stepped in simply because the guy was annoying him.

"Um... Thank you..." She said, her voice coming out a half whisper. People were now watching the two and she didn't exactly like being the center of attention.

"Don't mention it." He replied.

Usually those words were just another form of '_You're welcome_', but something about the way he said it told the rabbit girl that he meant it literally.

Not knowing what else to do, she stood there for a few more moments. He wasn't saying anything else and she found that the only option left was to ask if he wanted a menu. Something was off about this boy, it took Velvet some time to speak with strangers due to her shyness, but it was taking even longer to gather the courage to speak to this one in particular. She felt like she was a kid again, speaking to a busy adult that could scold her at any moment.

Nevertheless, she remained persistent. She looked at the man before speaking and-...!

"The cups..." She whispered to herself, walking closer to his table. "You caught them?" She asked, her initial reluctance was cast away by her distraction.

"Of course." He said, opening an eye to look at her. "It'd be a shame if they fell."

"..." Velvet stood still for a few moments, awkwardly taking in the sight of the safely returned coffee cups before reaching to her side. Pulling a menu out of one of her pockets, she handed it over the the boy. "... If ... if you want anything, just call for me." Grabbing the neatly stacked pile of wet coffee cups and placing them back on the tray, she turned around to return them to the kitchen.

Keeping her head down as she was about to start walking, she saw a familiar set of shoes in front of her. Her cheeks flushing from embarrassment, her head lowered even more. "I'm sorry..." She said.

"It's not your fault, Velvet." The blonde replied, handing a towel to the boy.

Looking back up, Velvet saw the woman from earlier. She was the owner's daughter, someone who looked out for the faunus employees and threatened to kick people out if they went too far, much like the man from earlier. Though, this time, she threatened to call the police. On that note...

"What are you going to tell the police?" Velvet asked. The man had escaped and his appearance was rather generic, there probably wasn't much they could do.

"She didn't call them."

Both Velvet and the woman looked back at the boy.

Bringing his hands together, he closed the menu and handed it back to Velvet. "I'll have a bagel."

The blonde woman took the menu in Velvet's stead, giving the girl a wry smile. "You're lucky, Velvet. I was never popular with boys back in my day."

The bunny girl's eyes widened, her face turning a deep shade of red as she did her best to hide it behind her bangs. "... I'm not popular..."

The woman only winked at Velvet in response before turning back around and leaving the dining area.

"Um..." Velvet stared at the redhead with an expecting expression.

"Archer." He said.

'_Archer?_' Velvet thought to herself. She silently wondered where he was from, as his name didn't follow the color tradition. "Archer... I have to go now... thank you."

Velvet passed the blonde woman on her way to the kitchen. She could overhear the conversation and couldn't help but glance back at the two out of curiosity.

"Here's your bagel, sir." She said, placing the plate down on the table. She appeared to have something else though. "And a complimentary cup of tea."

Velvet could see Archer staring down at the cup, narrowing his eyes at the liquid inside.

She wondered what might be wrong. After all, it was the special limited addition 'Plum Kelp Tea', brought back by popular demand.

Shrugging, the bunny faunus went back to work in the best mood she's been in all day.

* * *

Archer sighed, he had been provided minimal payment from some of the villagers who hadn't suffered much loss. Hunting was difficult in a world filled with apex predators, so he had found a rather cheap cafe and purchased the cheapest item on menu, the bagel, which had been reinforced to increase nourishment.

Unfortunately, he received a thank you in the form of the tea he hated the most. Still, it was more nourishment, so he downed the tea without concentrating on the taste. Afterward, he left the place without anyone noticing. The rabbit faunus would probably be disappointed, but Archer didn't come here to make friends, he came for answers and would get answers.

Standing out of sight from many of the street cameras, he scouted his environment from the rooftops above. He had to figure out what kind of place this was, then he could later find out what kind of issues this world had. Doing so would clear things up for him, he had to know if he was still a Counter Guardian at the moment.

What he found out though, was that this world was oddly similar to his own. There were stores and restaurants, construction sites, apartment complexes, giant clock towers... On that note, he didn't know what the giant tower he spotted in the distance was. It was obviously a multipurpose building, but he only knew one of its functions. Speaking of said function, it told him how late it was getting.

Feeling the fatigue from walking so much, he cursed his younger body and hopped several rooftops to find a way back to the forest. He would sleep in a tree like he had the past seven days. One of these days, he'd have to secure an income, showering in rivers and creeks got tedious after a while.

Reinforcing his body, he hopped and leapt from ledge to ledge at high speeds. With his reinforced senses, he had heard it. The oddly familiar sound of a store alarm going off.

'_Looks like robberies are common here_ too.' He thought, changing his destination.

_Old habits die hard._

* * *

**A/N: I could have made this chapter longer, but if I'm gonna be honest, I didn't FEEL like it.**

**I always liked this story better than "Earthland's Hero of Justice". It has more POTENTIAL. If you ask me, Dal bit off more than he could chew. WOOPS, Dal never liked getting personal info out there. Oh well, Dal's noT HERE ANYMORE. ***_Ahem_* **Excuse me, I got a little riled up there...**


	3. Opportunity

"You want to come to my school?" Ozpin questioned.

"More than anything." The silver-eyed Huntress in training replied.

Craning his neck, the gray haired man glanced at his trusted assistant, as if silently asking for her opinion even though his mind had already been made up.

The woman in question kept her arms crossed, turning away from the man as she rolled her eyes. "Hmmph." She sounded, making her disapproval apparent.

Ozpin tilted his head back to the young student. "Well okay."

The girl's face brightened visibly at his declaration, her expression alone telling that she would be freaking out if she weren't still being interrogated right now.

The man stood up, his chair sliding back as he reached for his cane. He grabbed the back of the chair before sliding it in. Turning around, he appeared to be going for the exit when he stopped. "One more thing, Miss Rose." He said.

"Yeah?" The girl urged, shooting up in her seat right as she was about to relax.

Ozpin stood still for a few seconds, his expression made difficult to discern in the darkness. He appeared to be recalling a piece of information before he stepped back into the light. "Did you happen to spot anyone else during the battle?"

The girl quirked a brow in confusion as she nervously played with her fingers beneath the table. "Uh, I'm sorry, but you might need to be a liiiiittle bit more specific than that."

"What I meant to say was, _'did you receive any assistance during your battle?'_" The coffee-loving Huntsman clarified.

"I didn't think so... But since you asked, I thought there were more guys on the ground than I remembered fighting... But when I looked around, I was the only one fighting. I kinda thought it was a little weird, like I might have been imagining it..." She half muttered the last part, raising her hands as she continued to clash her two index fingers together. Her face turning away in shame, as if they might think she were a bad Huntress in training for not being more cautious. On the other hand, she couldn't have afforded to pay it much attention during her situation.

"I see..." Ozpin replied, slightly lost in thought for the moment. "Do you have even the slightest guess at who they might've been?"

The girl shook her head, remaining silent after sensing the more serious atmosphere. Only when something came to mind did she speak up once again. "Um..." Ruby started. "Whoever they are, I don't think they're a bad person, they only targeted the bad guys."

Glynda was about to reply, most likely to scold the child for her naivety only to be stopped by the gray-haired Headmaster of Beacon, who seemed to almost be touched by her compassion.

"There's nothing to worry about, Miss Rose. The person in question isn't in any sort of trouble." Ozpin reassured her with a half smile. "Well then, you should go on home. You have a big day ahead of you and it is getting quite late."

"Ah, right." She half-whispered nervously, standing up before correcting the position of her empty chair. The door was held open for her by the blonde-haired witch who gazed at her almost impatiently. Taking it as a cue to leave, she was half-nervous when she stopped and turned around. "Thanks for the cookies." She awkwardly uttered her words of gratitude before spinning on her heel and walking away.

Closing the door, Glynda stared at the headmaster incredulously. "It's been a week."

Ozpin closed his eyes as he leaned against the table. "And he's here already." He said calmly.

"How do you know it's him?" Glynda crossed her arms.

Ozpin stood up, his stride remained slow as he made his way to the exit. "Instinct, Glynda."

The headmaster's assistant sighed in exhaustion before following him out of the room.

* * *

A day later and Archer had uncovered some much needed info about the place he wound up in. The city of Vale was much like any other city back in his own world, the catch being that it was more advanced in certain aspects and more archaic in others. It also bore the same name as the kingdom it resided in.

The weaponry wasn't lacking in the slightest and the combat he had seen from a small scythe wielding child had been above average for her age. There were few reasons to train young ones in combat, but Archer could very well guess why.

If they were desperate enough to train child soldiers, then they must be getting pushed back by something, something he was familiar with. While he hadn't fought many subspecies of grimm, he couldn't see why they would be so overwhelming. Perhaps there were stronger grimm, so strong that they overshadow all the others? Perhaps they reproduce at rates far faster than they could be exterminated? Maybe it was both. For now, Archer would only be able to wait for such information.

The overall advancements weren't too far ahead of what Archer had seen just before he had died, but it was enough to provide a critical piece of the puzzle in the picture forming in his head. The specific advancements and how they were only in a few areas told him they were working with a specific resource, or limited resources. Which proved to be correct.

_Dust._

A resource he found throughout most of the city and heard spoken about by its residents. He first found out about it when he reinforced his hearing to eavesdrop on a pair of construction workers, a tactic that involved selecting specific groups to spy on, and one he had used many times in the past for reconnaissance. Through their conversation, he discerned that '_dust_' was a fairly common, if not overused power source.

More recon spared him knowledge of what were referred to as 'dust shops', where the resource was sold for reasonable prices. There appeared to be types of dust, but Archer didn't need to know much more about it and decided to move on...

Move on to what exactly? He had determined that this world wasn't anything too outlandish, meaning he could lead a normal life here, but what exactly would he do? He'd help people every now and then when the opportunities came up, but he wasn't going to make a living off of that.

In all of his years, living his life as Emiya Shirou, he never once thought about doing anything other than saving people. Later, as Counter Guardian EMIYA, he never thought about his old life, or what it would be like if he had a second chance. All he thought about back then was killing his younger self, an attempt to cause a double paradox and boot himself out of the leash Alaya held over him. After losing, he gave up on the prospect.

Whatever he thought about after that was supposed to be up to his future self, something he would contemplate while suffering for the rest of eternity. However, he never expected to have his free will again, and maybe Alaya didn't either.

Maybe he could run a restaurant? A blacksmith shop? Lead any sort of normal life? Whatever it was, Archer he'd spend more time searching than relaxing.

Sighing in exhaustion, he vaulted into a sitting position on the rooftop ledge he was scouting from. Even here, he was a hopeless moron.

_'I promise I'll try my hardest from now on, Rin.'_

'Idiot.' Archer thought to himself. 'Don't go making promises you have no idea how to keep...'

Needless to say, Rin was an important friend, he intended to keep that promise even now.

Sighing again, Archer stood up with a plan in mind. He should get an ID card before he turned eighteen again. If this world was the same as his previous one, then it would be tedious if he waited any longer. At least that's how it was in western countries. He was pretty sure that he was in the west judging from the fact that everyone was speaking English.

Now he just needed a cover story...

Maybe he could say that he had amnesia? No, no one would believe that. He'll just show up and say he's from a village outside of the kingdom. As for the outfit... traced clothing was incredibly fragile and he didn't want to risk becoming naked. He didn't want to leave his armor unattended either, but it wasn't like he could just pose as a huntsman.

Perhaps he could tell them he was a mercenary? It wouldn't really be a lie, but whether or not they'd accept it would be half up to chance.

Well, throwing himself into society as 'Villager A' wasn't such a bad idea. What happened next was up to the system after all.

Archer couldn't hold back the smirk that formed over his lips, If only Rin knew what he was doing after his promise.

* * *

...

Archer may have screwed up.

He wasn't a stupid person by any definition of the word, save for one or two, but he didn't expect to be brought to the police station immediately after making his appearance.

What's worse was the fact that they threw him into an interrogation room and left him for thirty minutes. If the panicked expressions on the detectives' faces said anything, it was that they recognized him to an extent.

They seemed to be contemplating over whether or not he was someone they were looking for, glancing from a paper with a detailed description of their suspect and back at him.

Archer knew exactly why he was here, but the fact that, by word of mouth, his description and feats were made known to the higher ups in town was a mildly impressive to say the least. At the moment, as he leaned against the wall, they were probably contacting someone of higher authority for their next orders.

Speaking of which...

The doorknob twisted slowly as the door itself gave way, revealing a silver haired man.

The air he brought into the room was a calm one, his stature was relaxed and collected. It was as if he were trying to look as non-threatening as possible. Not that it was working of course, Archer could see through his act.

In actuality the man was carefully studying him, attempting to diffuse any suspicion by either sparing his glances or hiding behind his mug of coffee. Retreating behind closed lids or reverted gazes, the man would use the time to collect all of the information he gleamed and strategize his interactions.

Whatever the man was planning, however, remained a mystery.

It took Archer decades before he managed to gain the experience and effectively perform what the man was currently doing. Someone like this man was the more or less the only threat to Archer in a world like this one.

Walking over to the table, the man pulled a chair back before sitting down in it.

"'Archer', was it?" The man questioned.

Archer knew exactly where the man had learned of his name. He also knew that the man was merely following formalities and waited for him to continue.

"I take it you aren't one for socializing." The man said before raising his mug to take a quick sip. "Well then, allow me to clear any confusion you may have about your predicament." The silver haired man raised his hand and gestured Archer to the chair on the other side of the table. "If you would."

"And here I was hoping that we could get this over with quickly." Archer said in his usual tone, which sounded pretty weird in his younger voice. Realizing what the man meant by his previous statement, Archer knew he didn't have to worry too much.

He had originally planned to play 'naive seventeen year old', but the man in front of him held far too much information for that to work.

The old man chuckled slightly, the act sounding almost forced to the former Counter Guardian. "My name is Ozpin, and I am the one who had you brought here." Ozpin raised his mug once again, as if giving Archer the chance to reply, cuss him out, threaten him or all of the above. When he did none of those, he reassessed his understanding of the red head and continued. "As you might guess, your kind acts have gained my attention."

"Let's get to the point." Archer spoke. "What do you want to know?"

The coffee enthusiast raised a brow before calmly replying. "If I must say, you are quite the peculiar character. Your mindset, your tactics and abilities _all_ leagues above those your own age. You didn't even hesitate to kill those bandits last week. What I want to know, Archer, is _who _exactly are you?"

The red headed magus narrowed his eyes. "Just a traveling mercenary."

It was Ozpin's turn to narrow his eyes. Archer knew that he had made himself more suspicious, but there wasn't much else he could reply with.

"Forgive my suspicion, but most mercenaries can't eliminate a gang of bandits and an army of grimm." Ozpin stated, knowing that Archer was capable of reading his expression. "Might I ask who taught you?"

"My father." Archer said. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it was barely the truth.

"Interesting. A man like yourself would have been famous. To hear that you learned from your own father, well, I can't help but wonder if I've ever heard of him."

Archer crossed his arms, leaning further against the backrest of his chair. "You haven't. We lived in a village outside the kingdom. As you might guess, we had to be creative to survive."

Ozpin nodded, seeming to accept Archer's explanation for now. "Well, If you're this insistent, then I'm afraid I can do no more." Never mind, it appeared that the man caught on to Archer's lie. "I would like to thank you for protecting my student last night."

Archer nodded, appearing to pay half a mind. Regardless, Ozpin knew he was listening as he stood from his seat.

"Pardon me asking, what will you be doing now?"

Archer contemplated for a moment. The man in front of him was dangerous for sure, but in what way, he didn't know exactly. As cautious as he was, Archer knew an opportunity when he saw one. Perhaps he could take advantage of his situation. "I don't know. I just got here."

Ozpin leveled his mug with his mouth once again, as if it were his thinking action. Standing in place, his gaze found Archer's eyes. "Finding work without any form of identification will be very difficult, young man. If you'd like, I could help you with your situation if, of course, you would return the favor."

"What exactly are you implying?" Archer questioned.

"I have a few jobs for you. I'll help you set up a life here if you agree to help. If you're interested, come and see me at my academy." Ozpin turned and began walking to the door. Somehow, he knew that Archer wouldn't give an answer right away.

Just before he opened the door, the headmaster turned back, as if he just remembered something. "I believe I should warn you not to be so open about your occupation, mercenaries usually take up illegal work and are commonly seen in a negative light. As such, you may find yourself in some unforeseen trouble if you introduce yourself as a mercenary in the future." After that, he casually opened the door and left the room.

Archer was glad that he was up against a more forgiving person. If he were an actual suspect, he may have been in a tight spot. Of course, Ozpin himself clearly had ulterior motives, which might have been why he was so interested in the young Counter Guardian.

Regardless, Archer had to be careful from now on. After a bit of recon, he was going to take the Ozpin's offer, but he couldn't afford to be relaxed around the silver haired man. Even though he was perfectly capable of protecting himself, Archer still had one specific weakness.

He couldn't allow anyone to know that he wasn't really a resident of this world.

Basically, he couldn't allow anyone to gleam any personal information from him, such a thing would be fatal for the former Counter Guardian. But he didn't have to worry considering how good he was at keeping secrets. He was able to dodge questions and avoid suspicion thanks to a lifetime of experience.

The almost foreign feeling of surprise was apparent inside of Archer, he didn't expect to come across such a challenge.

As of right now, his lack of occupation or home didn't quite matter anymore. Not at all. Such things were problems with relatively easy solutions, getting where he wanted in life would be easy once he figured out where exactly that was. But regardless, one thing remained certain.

Ozpin is dangerous.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey, buddies. It's been a while. I've been working on things, not that you need to know. Of course, the fact that Dal never used outlines was also a setback. PAINSTAKINGLY, I've had to write new plans for his sssSTUPID stories. Curse that fool.**

**Well... It seems that I'm going to be busy elsewhere. Have fun, poor little readers.**

**Wait. Someone wanted to know why Archer risked exposing himself to the spotlight. As for why... _Would you stand by and watch an adorable innocent bunny girl get harassed?... If so, then you SUCK- Just kidding, heheHE!... But, of course, I believe most of you wouldn't. And Archer himself most likely wouldn't either, that softy._**

**_As for the other guy wanting to know which Archer this is, It's UBW Archer._**

**_Welp, normally this would be the part where Dal tells you something like 'Brush your teeth and take your vitamins', but I'm not a loser, so we're going to stop with that nonsense. See ya later, pals._**


	4. Arrival

**Pretty bold of me to disappear after saying that I was going to fix Dal's mistake, eh? Couldn't help it, pals. The medium between me and this site malfunctioned and I couldn't write. That's also why this chapter was so short. I wrote it in a tired mess as well, so anyone with high expectations can leave them at the door.**

**As for Earthland's Hero of Justice readers, don't worry. I'm writing chapter 11. As well as a new chapter for most of my stories.**

**Anyway, your gal is back and writing.**

* * *

Archer flung himself over the last bandit, his body turning upside down as he swung the pommel down onto his head. The force of the blow shattered the man's remaining aura and caused him to black out.

Landing back onto his feet, he dispelled the married blades.

Raising his hands to his waist, he closed his eyes and sighed. The final assignment given to him by Ozpin had been another relatively small time job. His objective was to apprehend some fugitive bandits for their rearrest.

But it was good, right? More criminals locked away meant a safer world. However, this assignment had two main things in common with the four he had completed beforehand.

The first thing, it was simply too easy. It didn't even make use of his abilities that Ozpin deemed to be above the average skill level of a veteran Huntsman. This was something that anyone with basic fighting skills and an aura could handle.

The second thing was pretty obvious. These assignments weren't very beneficial to the headmaster in any way.

Opening an eye, Archer spared a glance at the border of the town he had just saved. A crowd had gathered and begun cheering, shouting and screaming in excitement and gratitude. Honestly, they kind of had too in order to avoid attracting Grimm. A few of them had their scrolls out and were recording the fight and, well, him standing and doing nothing afterward.

He had no doubt that one of these if not all of the videos would find their way to his _'business partner'_. In fact, due to the nature of the situation, Archer had assumed that he was being watched during all of his missions and decided to hold back for the most part. The more a dangerous and manipulating man like Ozpin underestimated him, the better.

Sighing once more, he turned to the crowd he'd have to walk through in order to leave the town.

* * *

"Well done, Archer. You're quite the fast worker to return in less than a week." Ozpin spoke with a smile. He gestured for Archer to sit in the seat across from him, but when he didn't comply he merely continued. "As promised, I had some work done and your identification has been taken care of."

Taking the ID into his hand, Archer reached to the back of his red fauld and pocketed it.

"It's pretty obvious that you have more to say, so let's cut idle chatter." Archer said, his tone sounding as it usually did in spite of his rude comment.

"My, how observant of you." Ozpin raised his mug to his lips before taking a sip. While the action was short lived, it felt as if he did it to prolong Archer's stay and test his patience in some way. Once he finished, he looked at Archer with a serious expression on his face. "You have something that I hope to see my students have one day."

Quirking a brow, Archer waited for the headmaster elaborate with mild interest.

"Even if you weren't giving it your all, I could still tell from the way you fought." Ozpin paused, waiting to see Archer's reaction which came in the form of narrowed eyes. "Despite your age, you moved- no, you live like someone who has spent most of their life in battle. Someone tired and weary, yet experienced and decisive. Not only do you know what you're going to do in a fight, you also know what your opponent is going to do and adjust accordingly. The fight plays out exactly how you want it to. It's impressive."

Archer scoffed, slightly amused at the audacity of the man in front of him. "What I have can't be taught. It's experience." He said, knowing exactly what Ozpin wanted.

"Perhaps." Ozpin replied. "But if that's the case, then how did a person your age stumble across decades worth of experience in combat? The experience itself cannot be taught, however, you can set one on the right track and let life do the rest. Your battle analysis skills would be useful for such a thing."

Archer Sighed. Ozpin had most likely sent him on assignments to figure out how he could use him, only to find that he was a little more interesting than he initially thought.

"So this is how you rope in your unfortunate employees." Archer remarked.

Ozpin smiled. "Only the special ones."

Archer frowned. Flattery would get the headmaster nowhere, especially when he considered the implication behind Ozpin's statement.

"I take it you're going to tell me that this is something along the lines of 'A once in a lifetime opportunity, especially for someone who has no current standing in the world?'"

"It seems your ability isn't limited to the battlefield." Ozpin took his mug to his lips out of habit, forgetting that there was nothing inside. An age old habit that was impossible to shake off. The act brought a little bit of joy to Archer, seeing as it brought the headmaster even just the slightest bit of misery regardless of whether or not it showed.

"It seems a deal of some sort is necessary." Ozpin began. "You'll work here for two weeks, staying in one of the empty storage houses. If you don't like working here, the pay will be enough for you to live in town until you procure another source of income. What do you say, Archer?"

Archer didn't hate the proposition, it was the one making it that he didn't like. The man clearly had ulterior motives, he wasn't really trying to hide it too much. If it were simple work, he wouldn't mind, but he had no idea what this man would be using him for.

But he would have to find out.

"Fine." Archer spoke. "Let's just get this out of the way, then." Turning around, he walked over to the elevator, pausing as he waited for it to arrive.

Once the door opened, he walked past a middle-aged man in a white suit before leaving the large room all together.

* * *

Jaune was in trouble. He didn't really plan this far ahead and now he would be found out. He would remain useless all the way until he was sent away for the crime he committed. But that wasn't the worst part of it. What would his friends think once they found out? What about his team? Pyrrha? While his display at the entrance ceremony was pretty cool, it wouldn't be a good idea to just hope to luck out and do something similar all of the time.

It wouldn't be a good idea to rely on Glynda's combat class for improvement, he'd have to have some sort of training regimen on the side... he would have to train a lot... As for the regimen, he could probably find something online and learn the basics of swordplay... Now that he thought about it, that was a bad idea. But it was also the only one. Perhaps he could mimic some of the other sword wielders as well and hope they don't notice.

Glancing down at his side where his sword usually rested, a new thought entered his mind. The worst part wouldn't be his teammates or friends finding out, it would be his family's faces when he would ultimately see them again. The damage and humiliation would either be the despair he felt as his doom approached or his strongest motivation moving forward. At the moment, he preferred the second scenario.

Sighing, his shoulders dropped as he dragged his feet across the floor of the hall. Walking always helped him think a little. But that wasn't why he was here. He was here mainly because he was hiding.

He was hiding not only from Cardin, but also his teammates. He didn't know too much about what being a leader entailed in this school, so he was mentally preparing himself to handle many of the different scenarios he had imagined happening.

Scenarios of many variety, but all of him being found out in one way or another.

It was almost funny.

He had considered the possibility that he was powerless to change his fate, but if that were so, then why would he be thinking up all of these countermeasures and excuses? Was it all to lessen the fall? To drag out this lie as long as possible?

Now that he had more to lose... He couldn't give up. He couldn't afford to. If possible, he would want to stay at Beacon. To grow into a capable Huntsman, not only for himself, but for his friends and family. He owed them that much after making such a big mistake.

"Aaaah..." He groaned. However many weeks he had left would feel pretty long as this rate. Days passed by slowly for busy people after all.

Looking up from the ground, he spotted something peculiar.

"Who are you?" Jaune asked.

A red haired man around his age stood leaning against the wall next to a staff room, his arms folded and legs crossed. He wore a red outfit that was strange even for a Huntsman in training, but honestly looked pretty cool. He looked bored, as if he were simply passing time and nothing more. Even more so when he opened an eye to glance at Jaune.

"I'm a new staff member." He said briefly before closing his eye again.

"What?" Jaune questioned. There was no way a guy his age was part of the academy's staff. "Very funny. But now that I think about it, it doesn't really matter who you are, though. We might not actually even see each other again." He added. Beacon academy was huge, another student was just part of the pile.

Uncrossing his arms, he pushed off the wall and turned to the door. "Well, I suppose you're right about the first part." He said, walking into the room. "But we're definitely going to be seeing each other for a while."

Before the red clad mystery could close the door, Jaune looked behind his figure and saw something strange.

It was a large and empty room, reinforced with bright colored, almost white metal walls. It wasn't like very many of the rooms he saw in Beacon.

He wasn't lying?

What in the world? Why did Beacon hire someone so young? What was it that caused a prestigious academy to hire someone around his age? Not only that, was he even in training? Was he already some sort of Huntsman?

That question rung over a thousand times in Jaune's head in less than a second.

This man was a perfect contrast to Jaune himself at the moment. Someone who made it to the place that he needed to be stood right in front of him. Someone who was most likely already at the finish line, whereas Jaune just barely reached past the start.

"Wait!" Jaune half shouted before the red head could close the door.

It was a sudden thought. The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them, before he could even consider the risks. It was a twinge of hope inside that drove him to ask. The hope that maybe another resource or pathway would be open to him, something to give him the strength to fight against his bleak future.

If he wasn't lying about being a staff member, then the room behind him suggested that he definitely wasn't an ordinary employee of any sort. The walls were reinforced and armored rather heavily, as if preparing for major damage in the future... Maybe, just maybe...

"What exactly do you do here?" He questioned, staring at the golden eyed man who was half behind the door already.

The man stared back for a brief second, as if assessing the Blonde before responding. "I work in conjunction with Goodwitch's class." He began. "Students who want to further sharpen their skills come to me for training and sparing. I teach battle analysis an tactics, as well as how to read your opponent better. I'm open after class as well, so students can train even during their free time."

Jaune had to hold back his surprise. Disguising a gasp as a cough, he asked further questions.

"How exactly does it work? Do I just show up, or..." He paused, waiting for the man to clarify for him.

"You make an appointment before showing up. Though, we can most likely ignore that rule once this class is readily available. You'll learn about the process in your next combat class session."

Jaune quirked a brow in confusion. "Why do you say that?"

The red head sighed. "Well, as you can imagine, Huntsman and Huntresses are prideful creatures, especially the young ones in training. Not many of them would want to be taught by someone their own age, and for the upperclassmen, someone younger than them. I'll most likely only see a handful of students in my time here."

Jaune's face contorted into a confused expression. "I don't understand. Why would anyone pass up the opportunity to improve?"

"For the both of us at least, it doesn't matter. Honestly, I couldn't care any less if no one attends."

Jaune looked at the guy in front of him with a serious expression. He felt pity for him, regardless of his overwhelmingly cynical attitude. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Archer."

Jaune stared at the ground for a moment, not even worrying about taking up Archer's time. Looking back at him, he nodded. "Don't worry, Archer, I'll definitely attend your class! And I'll make sure my team tries it out at least once! I know some other people who might want to as well!"

Turning around, Archer only spoke once more before closing the door.

"Do what you want."

Staring at the door, Jaune Had another thought enter his head.

'_What in the world could possibly make someone my age turn out like that?_'

* * *

Already knowing where the trashcan was, Archer tossed the apple core into it without opening his eyes, the action eliciting gasps from the two random students who were glancing his way at the time.

He sighed. Cafeteria food was always disappointing, which was why he had just the apple to begin with. If he wanted to survive in this world, he would have to look into getting his own kitchen eventually. Maybe then, he'd be able to properly relax.

As for now...

Glances were snuck and gossip was whispered.

At the end of Glynda's combat class, she announced Beacon's newest addition.

Archer.

A hands on combat trainer who could help student get closer to their full potential and teach them unique battle tactics as well. They could even show up just to spar with him, or, if they wanted, spar with another student they brought over and have Archer act as the mediator.

As expected, the students didn't take kindly to that news. None of them wanted to learn from a guy who was younger or the same age, completely unaware of the countless number that was his real age. Even the more polite and less prideful students didn't want to attend simply because they thought they would have nothing to learn from someone so _young_. Even though Glynda had warned against such mindsets, the students held fast to their perceptions.

Though a whole range of reasons were had, the commonality that was had between everyone was a lack of desire to learn from Archer. He wouldn't be surprised if they completely ignored the instruction she gave on how to make an appointment.

Archer, who entered the cafeteria for food and to scope out the students, was the center of attention for the awkward few minutes after the students arrived and filled the room. He even spotted glances from Jaune and some of his friends, which may have been the only friendly looks he had received. Every other expression was either neutral or sour.

Though, there was a blonde who appeared to be checking him out...

Archer sighed.

He supposed now would be good time to visit the library. Being the center of attention wasn't exactly his thing and he had the perfect excuse to escape just now. Perhaps the library would be a more fruitful experience, at the moment he had no reason to stay.

Pushing off of the wall, he turned to leave.

"_Please stop_..."

At the first sign of distress, his focus shifted immediately. A familiar voice could be heard, now in pain.

"That hurts..."

His trained vision found the source of the commotion right away. It was that shy rabbit faunus whom he had met in that cafe some time ago. Her ears underneath a tight grip, being tugged on repeatedly by a tall and fit brown haired first year.

Cardin Winchester.

A slacker and a delinquent with a disdain for Faunuskind. He had no redeeming factors as far as Archer knew and his skills were merely average, yet still higher than his grades.

Velvet on the other hand was an incredibly skilled and intelligent second year with almost perfect grades. She was the most honest and hard working student in Archer's opinion. If she were any less kind or patient, Cardin and his team wouldn't be standing where they were.

Archer however, was not kind, and an eternity spent as a puppet had a tendency to wear down on one's patience.

Reinforcing his entire body to its limits, he swiped a ladle from the counter and poured mana into it as well. In a skillfully quick motion, he threw the ladle at the first year before turning back around to leave the room. The act was far too fast for anyone to really notice it was him and that was exactly the way he preferred it to be.

The kitchen utensil soared through the air, the speed at which it flew was so strong that it had created a breeze powerful enough to lift some of the lunch trays that it had sailed past. Its trajectory perfect, it hit Winchester's collarbone, causing a brief and quiet crunch followed by the clanging of the ladle to echo throughout the room.

The bully let go of the bunny girl's ears, screaming in agony. Nothing broke of course, but he wouldn't be using the arm for a while. As several students around followed the trajectory of the projectile, they were both confused and surprised to find nothing.

At the scene, however, Velvet stood in place, rubbing the soreness out from her ears as she stared at a wall far off by the serving counter.


	5. Declination

**I NO OWN RWBY OR ARCHER... I MEAN, FATE...**

* * *

"That's no good, Arc." Archer half shouted, irritation lacing his tone as he lowered his extended leg. The kick he had swung at Jaune had launched him into the wall left of the former servant, who merely stood staring with with disappointment.

Jaune stumbled to get up, gasping for the air that was just knocked out of him. His legs were left feeling weak and shaky from the entire ordeal. An arm wrapped around his gut, he stood to charge Archer once more, adjusting his grip as he raised his sword to attack.

Without even pulling out his weapon, wherever that was, he dodged the overhead slash with ease and delivered another kick to Jaune's side, his steel toed boots digging in and causing him to fly into the same wall.

"This was the second time I've performed that attack. Unless your approach is to lose, you're doing terrible." Archer said. "It should be obvious that overhead slashes leave you open, but they seem to be your first choice of attack."

Jaune stood up, much like last time, but noticeably slower. He was about to charge Archer again when he was interrupted. Holding his hand out, Archer took a more relaxed stance. Despite not being much of a fighter, Jaune could tell what that gesture meant.

"Do you berate all of your students like that?" Jaune asked as he slumped to the floor.

Archer cracked open an eye to look at the blonde knight, his hands remaining on his hips in a relaxed stance. "No." He replied, closing his eye again as he let the statement sink in. After a few seconds of silence, he elaborated. "And if it were exclusive to my students, you wouldn't be on the receiving end of it."

Jaune quirked a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned.

"It means that you aren't a student of this class."

Jaune shot up, ignoring the pain in his core and legs. "What are you saying?!" He shouted, his voice laced with concern.

"Tell me, Jaune Arc, what did you think this class was?"

Jaune thought for a while before replying, albeit a little more downcast. "It was a place to learn a more strategic approach to battle, to learn how to predict your opponent's next moves and carry out the battle in a way that places the outcome in your control."

Archer sighed. "It's more than that, but there's one requirement you have to fulfill before you can even think about attending this class."

Jaune looked down at the ground, his eyes scanning something beyond the floor as he stood in silent contemplation.

Saving him the trouble of burning out his brain, Archer simply gave him the answer. "You have to at least have basic skill in combat." Archer continued even through Jaune's surprise. "The only difference between fighting you and fighting an ordinary person is your sword."

"B-but you can't jus-"

"I can." Archer interrupted. "If you were to just attend my class as you are now, it would just be a one-sided beating. You would learn nothing, develop a unique styling of fighting riddled with bad habits and it would only go downhill from there."

Jaune's face contorted for a split second, the expression indiscernible before settling on one of defeat aimed at the floor. He didn't even bother looking up at hearing another sigh escape the young teacher.

"The most I can do is give you a training regimen and show you a few things to practice on your own. You can show up every now and then for me to correct your form, but that's it. I still have a class to run." The novice swordsman perked up at the thought, but Archer continued. "Don't go thinking that you'd be any better. You would still be the equivalent of a newborn in a fight."

Jaune stood still momentarily, thinking strongly about his next move. "Then what should I do after that?"

Archer shot Jaune another disappointed look. "Are you counting on me to make an important decision like that for you? If that's the case, then you're already failing." His words hit like a train, but he wasn't finished talking. "Honestly, it's a simple process. Just take a look into your most ideal future, then take all of the necessary steps to get there. I'll help you take the first, but after that, you're on your own."

Jaune was about to ask him to elaborate, but held back when he remembered Archer's initial reaction to his ignorance. He knew that Archer was right, but the way he acted had caused Jaune's opinion of him to lower a little. Not to say that he hated Archer, but the guy really needed to be more cool sometimes.

A timer sounded off, causing Jaune to snap out of his thoughts.

"Time's up. I'll send you instructions on your scroll later." Archer broke the brief silence, walking over to a bench nearby to take a seat. "Everything after that is your choice."

Jaune nodded, having his only hope torn from him set his gaze on the floor as he turned to leave.

He had woken up early to attend this class too...

'_Welp, I could always nap through lunch period_.' Jaune thought as he shut the door behind himself.

* * *

Archer stood in between the shelves. He had finished reading his third book and things already began to clear up. If he was going to be honest, a lot of the information contained within the textbooks were more or less being repeated. He knew that it was so that the less studious students would be able to understand as well, but the fact that the three books he had spent an hour on contained only half a book's worth of information still bothered him.

He needed the facts and information straight, anything else was just a waste of his time. Thankfully, he was a pretty decent speed reader and processed information fast due to his specialization. Skimming over the parts that repeated or offered useless information was easy enough.

Finishing the last page of the dust textbook, he closed it and slid it back into the shelf for the next person to use when the time came.

If he were his younger self, he would want to research dust more in-depth for future use. However, he didn't particularly care for the idea of it at the moment. It wasn't necessary at the moment and he only needed to know how to counter it in case if he ever fought anyone who used it extensively.

Though, he was probably going to give up fighting for a while. He would still fight injustice and save lives when he could, but at the moment, he could barely take care of himself financially. He'd have to establish a foothold in this world and a steady income for some of his operations lest he fall short of his goals like he usually did in his lifetime.

Archer sighed.

This was a golden opportunity. Alaya couldn't reach him, she couldn't force him to kill countless innocent people anymore. Instead of using Caladbolg II to nuke entire cities, he could approach things the way he saw fit, he could save people the way he wanted to, the way he had to.

And yet he still had many obstacles in his way. Even after the countless millennia he had suffered through, the road ahead was still a long and unpredictable one. Whatever awaited him at the end of it all was a mystery. For all he knew, he'd end up in Alaya's grasp again once he died... or the next time he went to sleep. This was all too good not to be a dream. Or was it?

To escape a bitter hell and end up teaching some kids how to prolong their deaths... One could say that the trade off was kind of a joke.

Closing his eyes, he placed a hand on his hip, running the other through his hair. He couldn't wait until he grew up again, he didn't look so great with swept back hair while this young. It also didn't work with red hair. Seeing Emiya Shirou dress and act like Archer didn't work all too well for those who have seen both before. Thankfully, no one on remnant knew either of them.

Well, it was only temporary. He wouldn't spend too much time worrying over his appearance like some kind of narcissist, especially when he had more pressing matters. Speaking of which...

"It looks like you've developed a rather troublesome hobby." Archer spoke, keeping quiet enough as to not bother anyone else in the library.

Around the corner, a certain rabbit faunus walked out from the bookshelf she had been using as cover. "T-that's not true!" Velvet retorted loudly. Fidgeting slightly when she realized just how loud her outburst was, and even more so when she saw the smirk on Archer's face. "You were so focused that I didn't know how to approach you without being a bother. So I waited..." She added, her face reddened from... from a number of things, perhaps. Velvet was just a socially awkward person, and it didn't help that she was talking to Archer of all people.

"You did." Archer agreed. "You skipped lunch, searched most of the school for me, and then stood there and watched."

Velvet's eyes widened further with every claim Archer made. She was not only impressed with how accurate they were, but embarrassed by them as well, causing her face to match Archer's cloak.

"Any normal person would have simply ate lunch before meeting me outside of my classroom."

Velvet's head lowered, her eyes almost looked a little terrified as she peered at him through the thick strands of her hair. Sensing this, Archer had mercy on the bunny.

"Don't worry about it." Archer waved off any concern with a single statement, continuing only when he noticed her calming down a bit. "So, what did you want?" He questioned.

Velvet almost seemed to revert back to her terrified state before she regained her composure. She stepped closer, causing Archer to quirk a brow, and in turn her heart rate raised at the sight. Her breathing was slightly faster than normal, but her eyes remained focused and determined.

"Thank you, Archer."

She stood, waiting as she tried to scan his expression, but Archer was oddly stoic in a way. She almost began to worry until she heard him speak up once more.

"What are you thanking me for?" He asked, his demeanor becoming more serious.

Velvet stumbled with her thoughts before deciding on what to say. "Y-you saved me in the cafeteria... You were fast, but I could see it... Thank you..."

Archer sighed. "In an academy that teaches children how to become heroes, inaction should be considered a disgrace." The faunus's expression had gone through various surprised changes, but Archer didn't wait to count them all. "I only did what I had to."

Velvet's mouth opened slightly before closing, staring at the floor, she pondered her next words. Shaking her head, she looked back up at Archer. "At the cafe as well, you saved me... and some cups." She chuckled quietly at the last part before continuing. "And... Here, look at this."

Reaching down into her pocket, she pulled out a scroll. A browser of some sort was loaded and a tab was opened to a video sharing sight. Currently playing was a video of a red clad man with twin swords, spin kicking a bandit before jumping over a horizontal slash from a flanker. His dodge was followed by the pommel of his sword impacting the bandit's head, sending him flying in the direction of the other bandit.

Luckily, the video quality wasn't good enough to capture Kanshou and Bakuya vanishing from his hands, especially since the sun exposure was too overwhelming, but they were noticeably missing later in the video.

"I found this yesterday." She said, her shyness seemed to vanish completely as her voice took on a cheerful tone. "There were a lot of people there and the grimm would have shown up if you didn't do anything." Lowering the scroll, she smiled brightly at Archer. "You're a hero!" She half shouted, almost forgetting where she was.

Archer's expression changed slightly. Something bothered him. A slight pang in his heart, pulsing and threatening to grow stronger should he let his guard down even for a single moment.

It wasn't the fact that she called him a hero. He was used to that. Being referred to as a '_Nameless Hero_' or just a hero was common during the times he spent as a heroic spirit. The word itself in any of its uses meant nothing to him.

What bothered Archer was the girl herself. She did nothing wrong, but it was clear that she was trying to form a bond of some sort, something that didn't really sit well with Archer. Not only was making friends a little dangerous for him specifically, people close to him often got in the way and would usually attempt to talk him out of his line of work. He wasn't going to be here for long either, so there was another negative.

Velvet also seemed to be rather adamant to become his friend. It could be because of her Faunus heritage, making actual friends was incredibly difficult due to discrimination. However, something told Archer that the girl wasn't the type to socialize. It was possible that something or someone was motivating her to do so.

The whole thing was a hassle he wasn't looking to go through this time around. Plus, befriending teenagers wasn't really on the list of things Archer wanted to do.

"You're jumping to conclusions." Archer spoke seriously. "How do you know I didn't do any of that for my own benefit?"

The smile quickly faded from her face, her scroll lowering in her hands as her body stiffened. "What do you mean?"

There was a long pause. Archer's narrowed eyes closed in rest before he replied. "Forget it." Opening his eyes again, he analyzed Velvet's concerned expression before turning around. "Well then, I've got a class to run. Take care."

As he walked away, he could sense the rabbit faunus' eyes trained on his fleeting form.

* * *

"Then he tried to run, but I was all like, BAM! WOOSH! KABOOM! It was so awesome!"

"Are you allowed to be telling us this?" Blake questioned.

"Nope." The cloaked huntress-in-training replied.

"Cool." Yang commented nonchalantly.

At the back of the group, Weiss seemed to be the only one having trouble with Ruby sharing classified information. However, she chose to remain frustrated in silence.

Surprisingly, it was Blake who was more vocal about her concerns. "Something isn't right about this." She said, stopping in her tracks. As the rest of the group soon mirrored her actions, she elaborated. "Some mystery hero just provided some unseen backup, never showed their face and the Headmaster himself had questioned you over it?"

"I agree." Weiss added. "There's something peculiar about that event."

"I don't think it matters." Yang stated. Seeing the way Blake and Weiss reacted, she further defended her statement. "Hey, all I'm saying is that whoever it was that night doesn't matter cause we'll probably never see them again. And besides, what's important is that Rubes caught the bad guy."

Ruby began jamming her pointers together, it looked as if she had pitted her two index fingers against each other in a fight. Once Blake had stopped staring at Yang in disbelief, she noticed and changed her focus to the young leader.

Both Weiss and Yang had soon mimicked the action of their stoic teammate and turned to Ruby.

"What's wrong?" The blonde asked.

"I wouldn't exactly say that '_I_' caught him..."

"What do you mean?" Weiss questioned, placing a hand on her hip and leaning to the side as she waited for an answer.

"He kind of looked like he was already beaten up a little before I even did anything." Ruby said quietly, looking off to the side.

Yang stepped in closer to her sister. "To be clear, we're talking about Ruban Porkwith, right?"

"Roman Torchwick." Blake corrected.

Seeing Ruby nod, the Schnee heiress moved in closer, pushing Yang out of the way as she began to interrogate her own leader. "To be clear, you told the headmaster about that part, right?"

"Uh, he never really asked?" The cookie loving student spoke meekly. In all honesty, it never really crossed her mind, and there was never even an opportunity to add such a detail anyway.

While Weiss chose to groan in frustration, Yang merely shrugged and wrapped an arm around her sister. "I still don't think it matters. She already told them that someone helped her, they probably assume that meant with Torchwick as well."

"I suppose." Weiss relented. "However, that information confirms how dangerous the person is."

Blake hummed in agreement. "Roman was a highly wanted and elusive criminal. If this person managed to weaken him enough for Ruby to take down without showing their face, we don't know what else they could be capable of."

"Exactly." Said Weiss. "The issue isn't necessarily the person themselves, but wherever their allegiance lies."

"If you say so." Yang shrugged. It was clear that her interest in the particular topic had died.

Suddenly, a strange ringing had sounded out.

Everyone had confused expressions until they recognized the sound as the reminder alert from a scroll. In this case, it was Ruby's scroll that had made the noise. The girl in question had reached into her pocket, pulling out the device before pressing the yellow triangle to expand the scroll.

"Ah, I have to go, guys. See you later!" She turned to walk away, but was stopped when she heard her sister's voice from behind.

"Wait, Rubes. Where are you going?" She asked.

"I have another class."

"With who? There's no more classes for the rest of the day." Yang further questioned.

"Don't tell me..." Weiss started.

"With Archer."

"You really went for it?" Yang asked. Her answer came in the form of a nod and a confused look, so she left it at that.

It was Weiss however, who voiced her opinion. "Honestly, I don't think we have anything to learn from that guy. He's far too young to know anything we don't, let alone be a decent teacher."

"I'm kinda with Weiss on this one." Said Yang. "Even if he could teach us anything, it's weird having someone your age in that kind of position."

Ruby stared at her friends in disbelief. Maybe it was something with the older kids? "Well, I'm younger than you guys, so I don't have that problem." Ruby boasted before turning around and speeding off to her new class.

WBY was left staring at the cape of their first letter, waving in the wind like a flag.

"Guess we ought to check it out as well." Yang broke the silence.

Weiss and Blake were both curious as well, both silently deciding to follow Yang in her pursuit of their leader.

None of them could predict the events that would unfold after this meeting.

* * *

**A/N: This was the other half of the last chapter, it was almost finished, so I decided to work on it alongside other projects. It's kind of poorly written, but I was writing while dehydrated and it took a lot of energy. It's kind of weird as well and the logic is questionable at best, but I can't rewrite this story until this _POOR e-EXCUSE O_f an arc is over, that's the only moment I get free time.**

**There may be special cases where I rewrite things before I finish the arc, but that's only because they're so stupid that they basically asked to be changed. As for this story in particular, I didn't have the time to storyboard and brainstorm during my moment of technical difficulties, so it will only experience minor changes from the original script until I have time to fix it. Dal never did any of that which is why I'm working with a half-baked outline. That sS-_SCUMBAG_!**

**Welp... I guess this is the new chapter... It's not that good, but I never said it would be. I also hope that none of you had high expectations just yet. I also apologize for the last scene's _BA_d writing, I was incredibly parched and apparently a dehydrated person shows symptoms eerily similar to dementia. Basically, if you're an author, please drink a lot of water when you write or you'll forget how to write like I did. I also didn't proof-read it. Yes, _SUFFER!_**


	6. Realization

**A/N: This chapter is kind of... well, you'll see... also, the quality of writing dropped.**

* * *

Yang had made it to the classroom in time, but rather than knocking like a normal person, she rudely swung the door open without any regard to the lesson going on in the room behind. "Howdy!" She shouted, leaning against the door frame as she caught glimpse of the situation.

His body was facing towards his student with his arms folded, his neck craned to look at the blonde. The new professor was already looking at the door, strangely enough. It was as if he had known she was about to barge in any moment.

Oh well, that was nothing. Her Uncle Qrow and dad both did the same thing all the time whenever she tried sneaking up on them.

The man who was very clearly copying Ruby's fashion sense narrowed his eyes at her before turning to his new student. "You brought your team for a demonstration?"

The cloaked girl quirked a brow, turning from Archer, then to her sister and back to Archer again. "What do you me-"

Before she could get a sentence in, the other two members of her team, Blake and Weiss, came to a stop behind the blonde who was still in the doorway.

"Don't just stand there." Archer said, his tone almost sounding like an adult scolding some children. To Yang, it just seemed condescending and fueled her irritation.

Shrugging, Yang walked into the room, followed by her two other teammates who had stood in place for a few moments first. "So... Is it okay if we watch?" She asked.

"What do you think those are for?" The young teacher extended a thumb and pointed to relatively small bleachers placed at the back of the room.

Yang and the rest of her team nodded before walking over the the stack of benches. Honestly, the situation was far too awkward for her taste. She almost wished that she could have been born in one of the earlier generations, maybe one where she wouldn't have to witness a very young professor awkwardly attempt to teach people his own age. Even worse, the guy's constantly relaxed posture annoyed her for reasons she failed to understand.

Sighing, she propped her elbow up on her knee before resting her chin in her palm.

"Are you ready?" Archer questioned, opening both of his eyes to look at his student, who, much to his dismay, was only two and three quarter inches shorter than he was.

Ruby reached behind and pulled Crescent Rose out of its sheathe. Several parts began to move, gears turning and hinges spinning. Soon, the handle stretched out and allowed her hands to rest. The blade, or rather blades, had unfolded in two places. The large sharp edge of the scythe contrasted the small sharp knife at the other end of the reaper's weapon.

"Ready!" Ruby confirmed.

Archer nodded, unfolding his arms as he held them down at his sides. "Don't hold back." He ordered.

The similarly red clad girl nodded back at him, however, something still bothered her. "Aren't you going to take out yo-"

Yang's eyes widened.

Before Ruby could finish her sentence, Archer seemingly vanished.

Then, he appeared before Ruby, a single arm raised to an overhead slash as he descended toward the girl. In response, she raised Crescent Rose's handle in front to guard the attack. However, something was off about this picture, something that bothered Yang to no end.

He didn't have any weapons on him.

Ruby let out a squeal of surprise when she noticed his empty hand as it passed under her guard. That squeal came back louder, however, when she spotted the crackling of blue light coming from the palm of his hand, stretching and shaping into something she couldn't make out just yet.

Either way, it made direct contact with her abdomen.

Once the light that flashed in his hand died down, a white, cloudy Chinese falchion had taken its place, a few wisps of blue, steam-like energy dancing across the edge before sliding up and vanishing into the air.

'_Where did that come from?_' Yang thought. It could have been embedded into his clothing with dust, but it wasn't in his hand until after he passed Ruby's guard. That must mean... '_Maybe it's his_ semblance?' A glance to the left spared her the sight of Blake and Weiss' inquisitive expressions, their eyes trained on the beautiful white sword in his hand.

"That's so cool!" Ruby gushed, only to be kicked in the side when she let her guard down.

The kick just now did a number on her aura and nearly sent her into the wall. A glance to the monitor above showed Yang that it had scratched off 17% of her already damaged aura. And it was in that glance that she had noticed something peculiar.

"Where's his aura meter?" Yang found herself questioning aloud.

Blake and Weiss shifted their focus from the fight and spotted the same peculiarity.

"Maybe he doesn't need one since he's teaching instead of sparring." Blake guessed.

"That makes absolutely no sense." Weiss narrowed her eyes, the one-sided fight below the monitor recapturing her attention. "Monitoring his aura would help with teaching in several ways, why would he choose to omit that?"

Weiss' question remained unanswered as all three of them placed their full focus on the fight below.

"That's no good, Rose." Archer stated as he batted a swing away before delivering one of his own. "Focus."

And so, she did just a he ordered. Pushing back, she gave herself some breathing room and took a deep breath. Being focused in battle came easy to her, if it didn't, using both a sniper and a scythe to this level would be an impossible task.

And then she charged.

Crescent Rose was deflected once again, drawing a frustrated grunt from its owner before the pommel of the falchion sent her flying back again.

"Your focus is too shallow. Ignore anything and everything that's unnecessary to this fight, then, analyze absolutely every move your opponent makes, no matter how slight it is."

The blonde huntress in training stared at Archer incredulously. To give her sister such an impossible task on her first lesson. Even professional Huntsman and Huntresses didn't have such control over their minds until after a several years of battle experience, and even then, such a feat seemed rare.

However, it seemed that his student didn't think that the task was so impossible.

Taking his order to heart, Ruby shut out all distractions. She wasn't going to think about Archer's strange semblance, she wasn't going to acknowledge the existence of her spectators, nor was she going to focus on the ultra-cool and very beautiful sword he had been fighting her with. All that existed in this room was her and the opponent.

Almost as if she had been taken into a trance, her silver eyes glimmered for a short moment, an ultra-focused visage taking place of her usually innocent expression.

Yang's jaw dropped at the pace the fight had taken.

Archer's sword was deflected off of Crescent Rose's blade, the owner of the scythe following through with the swing before pulling the trigger once the end was behind her. In an instant, she was in her teacher's guard, the dagger end of her weapon aimed at his torso before she pulled the trigger once more.

However, the lightning fast jab was blocked by the white sword. Rather than actually landing a hit, the attack only sent him skidding back a few feet.

The blonde brawler was visibly dejected, but her sister was almost the opposite. The red reaper's concentration remained unfazed even after her attack was blocked. In fact, as the fight went on, her focus was visibly growing. Her expression became devoid of any emotion or strain as she fell into the zone, dodging, parrying and attacking.

To the left and to the right, even the back, they zipped throughout the room, their blades screeching each time they abruptly clashed together. If the spectators were blind, they would be very confused over the noises happening in completely different places, despite it being only less than a second between clashes.

Yang wanted to cheer for her sister, tell her to kick Archer's butt or something along that line, but she held her tongue for fear that she might break Ruby out of her fighting trance.

It was almost like their leader's state of ultra focus was contagious, as the spectators had been unable to take their eyes off of the blade dance being performed below.

She had never seen her sister fight this well, it was surprising to say the least. If anyone had any doubts about the fifteen year old skipping ahead to join Beacon, now would be the point where such doubts would be cast aside.

Letting out a grunt of effort, Ruby dragged her scythe across the ground, firing a shot and delivering an upward swing. Sparks and dust followed her swinging arc and a shock wave was evident by the furious dancing of both hers and Archer's capes. The rhythmical dance of dodge and attack they had been doing up until now ending abruptly.

Then it happened.

Archer had just barely sidestepped the attack, his arm outstretched with the cloudy short blade, ready to launch another counter attack at any moment of his choosing.

It had rarely happened a few times before, but now was one of those rare moments. For a split second, from her vantage point on the bench, Yang had caught a glimpse of something she never really liked to see.

Ruby's eyes were wide open, her brows furrow and the corners of her lips curved downward in a defeated frown. The expression sent shivers down Yang's spine, it was very much telling of the hopelessness she had felt at that very moment.

Everyone had held their breaths, waiting for the attack to hit. Ruby herself had even seemed to freeze up, unwilling to move in the face of inevitable defeat.

_Did she even get a single hit in?_

However, much to everyone's surprise, Archer's sword disappeared into wisps of blue lights. "That's enough." He said, snapping everyone out of their shared daze. Turning on his steel-plated heel, he made his way to the center of the room before stopping and turning back to the girl he had been fighting. "Cheer up, you weren't half bad." Archer added, his expression unchanged in spite of his compliment.

Regardless, Ruby nodded, her usual innocent smile taking place of her frown as she sheathed her scythe.

"Catch, Rubes!" Yang shouted, causing the girl to glance in her direction.

By then, it was too late.

The bottle of water had hit the girl dead center of her face.

"Ow..." Ruby muttered on the way down to the ground, a trail of blood following her nose.

The pitcher jumped over the layers of benches, shouting a series of apologies on the way down before making it to her sister, who by the way, was sprawled out on the ground with a nose bleed.

"Ruby, talk to me!" Yang yelled. "How many fingers am I holding up?!"

"_I told you, I can't eat anymore cookies, Weiss..."_

Yang made the scene more dramatic by acting as if Ruby had died, while the heiress who had been mentioned furrowed her brow in short lived bout of disturbed confusion.

After a few minutes, Ruby had recovered from her delusions. Standing up, she reached for the cap of the water bottle, but was stopped before she could open it.

Archer held out a red handkerchief, which she gratefully accepted, wiping the blood off of her face before handing it back to him and downing the entire bottle of water in one go.

"Ruby, you were awesome in that fight!" Yang broke the silence, acting as if a dramatic scene hadn't broken out three minutes ago.

Weiss huffed, folding her arms before looking at her leader. "Your capability to follow the professor's advice to such an extent is exemplary."

The miniature celebration was stopped before it could even truly be started.

"It's alright to get excited over a small victory, but you've just barely scratched the surface of what I have to teach you." Archer commented.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Because you have much to teach her?"

"I do."

Archer's reply was less than satisfactory to the blonde.

"Look, not to be rude or anything, but I can't be the only one who thinks it's weird for you to be a professor here." She said.

"Of course not, because then you'd be original."

The blonde grit her teeth in irritation. She was looking for a legitimate answer, but he was just provoking her. Then again, her remarks weren't even proper questions, but it was still a form of inquiry. Any decent professor in his place would have actually tried to justify their own situation. And the way he nonchalantly stood with his arms folded and eyes closed pissed Yang off in a way she couldn't understand. It was like he was saying that he would rather be anywhere else without actually saying it.

"With all due respect, Professor, I agree with my teammate. I don't know what the headmaster was thinking when he hired someone so young. It would only discourage students to learn from you. Well, most of them." Weiss added, glancing at Ruby.

"If it helps, I'm actually older than all of you." Archer spoke, drawing out a glare from Yang and a pair of narrowed eyes from Blake. Ruby however, was not shocked by such a revelation considering that it didn't affect her. "That aside, the headmaster knew exactly what he was doing."

"Please. Enlighten us." Said Weiss.

"Pride."

Archer's statement changed the atmosphere completely. A single word that was followed by a lingering silence. Everyone's thoughts were being tortured by that one word repeating itself over and over, they already knew where this was going and they didn't exactly like it.

"How can you call yourself a Huntress if your pride gets in the way of improving yourself?" His words sunk in and more silence filled the air, no one willing to respond. "If you remain weak, you won't be able to save anyone, no matter how hard you try. Then, at the end of it all, you'll have no excuse for the amount of lives that were lost due to your incompetence. There will even be times where such a thing simply gets in the way of victory even if you're strong. Huntsmen and Huntresses have to toss their pride out the window if they have any hope of being saving anyone. If you can't do that, then you should give up now and find another career path, because you aren't worthy."

The rapier wielder clenched her fists, her nails nearly drawing blood. Her eyes were wide as her gaze bore into the red haired man...

But for a split second, it almost felt as if she were staring _past_ him.

"Ozpin probably thought he could kill two birds with one stone by hiring me."

Weiss had discarded her manners and glowered at Archer. Even though both of his eyes were closed, and he shouldn't have been able to see it, the action seemed to prompt his next sentence.

"Unlike last time," Archer began, opening one of his eyes to halfheartedly return eye contact with the heiress. "He may actually be wrong."

Yang narrowed her eyes.

_Just how did he know about that?  
_

Did he read up on team RWBY's shaky history? No, that couldn't be possible. If he had done something like that, it would mean that it was on team RWBY's file or something, for anyone who had access to see. Either that, or it was common knowledge or talk among the staff, but the first guess seemed more likely. Craning her head to the left, she saw Weiss's glare deepen. It would seem that she had come to the same realization.

Ruby laughed nervously, stepping in between Archer and Yang. "So... Professor uh... Archer... what's next?" She asked, blatantly attempting to change the subject.

Archer rested his eyes, ignoring the presence of the two girls who hated him the most at the moment. "Just call me 'Archer'. As for your question, that's for to-"

The sound of his voice was interrupted by the ringing of a scroll.

Standing close by, it was obvious to everyone who's scroll it was.

"Ah, do you need to take that?" Ruby asked politely.

"No need." Archer replied. "That wasn't a call, it was an alert. Your teammate made an appointment to spar against me."

Even Blake's stoic expression was disturbed at the revelation.

If Yang recalled correctly, there were three advertised reasons to take up Archer's class. To learn how to make the most out of every battle experience and eventually use it to guide the flow and outcome to your favor, to host a sparring session between you and another classmate, and finally, to simply spar against him in an actual fight to test your own skills.

The blonde brawler held back the urge to curse, and a quick glance to side showed her that Blake was probably doing the same. It was made worse by the fact that the challenge was most likely issued out of pride.

Why did Weiss feel the constant need to prove herself? Just what was she after? Honestly, Yang was just hoping to call the guy a 'jerk' and leave it at that, never return to his classroom, only ever spotting him during lunch or in the halls on occasion, but she felt as if that were now a far off dream.

While the Yang of one hour ago would have disagreed, the Yang of now would begrudgingly admit that Archer was most likely stronger than all of them, considering how easily he dodged Ruby's high speed attacks, never even taking a single hit.

"Are you sure?" Archer questioned.

Weiss nodded. "I've made up my mind."

Archer smiled wryly, turning away from the group as he began to walk towards the exit. "If you're that eager to lose, you should challenge the_ invincible girl_ to a fight. I'm sure she'd be delighted to oblige."

"You're kind of a jerk, you know?" Yang called out at his retreating figure.

"I don't care." Archer replied, his pace not slowing. "I didn't come here to make friends." His hand grasping the doorknob, he turned it and soon found himself on the other side of the door.

Followed by the slam of the door was Yang's tired voice.

"Man, I hate that guy." She commented.

"I like him." Ruby said, drawing out stares from both her sister and Weiss, and from the back, Blake facepalmed. "He was super cool, alright! He made a really pretty sword from nothing and beat me up with it! Plus, we have matching outfits!"

"That's no reason to ignore every other bad thing about him, you moron!" Weiss yelled.

Ruby smiled nervously. "Well... you guys were kind of being mean to him..."

Both the heiress and the brawler's gazes burned into the little red reaper as she looked to her stoic teammate for help.

Blake sighed. "I agree with Ruby." Once the focus shifted to her, she elaborated. "Even if his remarks were a little overkill, you two technically initiated the conflict."

"Are you telling me you wouldn't mind having a professor the exact same age as you?" Yang questioned, not really caring about his age at this point, asking more out of curiosity than anything.

"Ah, he's actually older..." Ruby added, causing Weiss to roll her eyes while Blake and Yang ignored her.

"I wouldn't." Her remark sat in the air for a few seconds before she continued. "Ruby isn't a pushover. Watching her fight against him, it's clear to see that we could learn a lot from him. I'm not going to treat him the way everyone else does just because he earned that kind of position at his age."

Yang clicked her tongue. She hated being in a position where she was mostly wrong, but hated the other party to the point where it felt like they were in the wrong. Regardless, she was a little too old to linger on something like that for too long.

"I guess you're right, but he's still annoying."

The rest of the next few seconds were spent in awkward silence.

It was then that Yang realized that they were still in Archer's classroom despite the man in question having been gone for some time now.

"Weiss?..." Ruby broke the silence. "You okay?"

The girl mentioned took a deep breath, breaking out of her daze before acknowledging her allies. "No Ruby. I'm not okay." She replied, shocking the young girl. "And I won't be okay until I poke several hundred holes into our new professor with Myrtenaster." Weiss then proceeded to leave the room, leaving everyone else in awkward silence once again.

Ruby chuckled nervously and followed after her teammate while Yang shrugged, opting to do the same.

However, in the large, empty room, Blake lingered for a few more seconds.

She found herself wondering what exactly it was that Archer wished to achieve here. His snarky attitude, as well as his previous statement, told her that he wasn't here to socialize. At the very least, he didn't necessarily hate people in general, otherwise he wouldn't have treated Ruby the way he did. And more important to Blake, he didn't hate the faunus.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have helped one of them in the cafeteria.

* * *

Ruby casually strolled down the halls, a visible skip in her step as she thought about what she would learn the next day. Even if Archer had told her that she didn't even do much in their first lesson, she still felt as if she had accomplished a great feat. She had never been that entranced in a single fight before.

Looking back, it was also strange. A whole slew of things happened after she had followed the advice.

Her sister and the rest of her team had disappeared.

The entire room, save for the middle of the floor, had become swallowed in darkness.

Everything had lost color, yet Archer gleamed a sharp red.

It all moved in slow motion, but she still couldn't land a single hit. Their was something strange about the way that he fought, something that made Ruby swear to defeat him one day, even if that day was far off.

On another note, she would have to figure out how he made that awesome sword. The sword that was so beautiful, it became a major distraction for her at the start of the battle. If it was his semblance, then it was the coolest semblance ever, even if it was still very much unclear how it worked.

"Just tell us already!"

Ruby zipped over to the corner, peaking around the wall before catching a glimpse of the racket ahead.

Velvet stared at the ground in silence, not willing to reply.

"The fact that she isn't saying anything means she's got some info." Said Sky.

"Come on already!" Cardin shouted. "We'll leave ya alone if you just tell us who threw it."

Turning the corner, Ruby propelled herself forward with her semblance. "Stop!" She shouted, skidding to a halt in front of the bunny faunus, arms outstretched to the sides. "Leave her alone!"

This time for sure, Ruby would protect Velvet. At the cafeteria she was waiting for an opening, a moment appropriate for her to step in, but...

_Huntsmen and Huntresses have to toss their pride out the window if they have any hope of being saving anyone._

This time for sure...

"Get out of the way." Cardin demanded, attempting to shove Ruby.

Ruby however, remained in place in spite of the action. "If you don't leave, I-... I'll... uh..."

The leader of team CRDL quirked a brow. "You'll what?"

"I'll throw a ladle at you!" She shouted.

Her words echoed throughout the halls. The shocked expression on Cardin's face hid the internal debate held within his mind. The rest of his team had looks ranging from surprised to irritated and full on disappointed.

It was an obvious sore spot for Cardin. Having received a bone fracture from a serving instrument that seemingly came from nowhere caused him to be the laughingstock of the entire academy. Soon enough, stories began to spread about the legendary ladle with a mind of its own, coming to life every five days to defeat the evil Cardin Winchester.

Of course, no one actually thought the legend was real, but the fact remained that Cardin was defeated by a ladle.

One time, someone had even thrown one at him in the halls, causing him to flinch before it softly bounced off of his chest.

"You're _so_ gonna get it now!" He shouted, grabbing the short girl by the shoulders, attempting to get a good enough grip to throw her.

The rosy reaper was stronger than she looked, her retaliation coming in the form of ramming into the bully and wrestling him to the ground.

"Um... Please stop..." Velvet pleaded. Such pleas fell on deaf ears, due to it being far too quiet and neither party willing to give up.

"I'm telling you, Cardin!" Ruby yelled, holding one of his arm close to her with both of hers as she kicked at the other. "I'll run to the kitchen and get a ladle! And you know I can be back here in two seconds!" Her remark seemingly backfired as Cardin only got angrier, and therefore stronger.

However, before Ruby could be tossed into a nearby wall, the two were interrupted.

"What's going on over here?" A voice questioned, the authority laced in the tone causing both parties to freeze on the ground.

"Uh..." Ruby remained still as she glanced up at the newcomer, her boot still pressed against the bully's face. "Arc-!"

"She attacked me!" Claimed the leader of team CRDL.

"What?! That's not what happened! Tell him!" She shouted at Velvet, feeling a small pang of guilt when her rabbit ears flinched in slight irritation.

The bunny in question glanced at Archer, then to Ruby. "He attacked her first." She said.

"Cardin," The red clad professor began, glaring at the boy and his team. "If you're caught assaulting someone again, you're without a doubt, going to be expelled."

"You're just going to take her word for it?!" He cried, prying the small huntress in training's foot off of his cheek before standing up.

Archer scowled. "Unfortunately for you, her claims are backed by evidence." He replied, pointing to the security camera near the far end of the hall.

Even if he hadn't looked at the footage at the moment, to Ruby at least, Archer always seemed to know everything, which by the way, included the obvious.

"Your punishment will be decided later. Return to your dorm rooms."

With quiet grumbling, team CRDL sped past the young professor and left the halls.

As soon as they were gone, Archer spoke up.

"You."

Velvet turned at the sound of his voice aimed in her general direction.

"Next time you're being bullied, get a professor."

The bunny eared faunus nodded. "Is... is he really going to be expelled?"

"Don't worry, Cardin's only getting expelled if he hurts someone again, right?" Ruby said, looking to Archer for confirmation.

"I don't know." He replied. "Regardless, he'll think twice before doing it again."

"Wait... you were bluffing?!" The cloaked girl questioned. Quietly, she promised to raise Archer's place on her list of the coolest people she knew.

Her question remained unanswered, most likely due to how obvious the answer was.

Turning around, Archer made to leave. "The two of you should get some rest. It's getting late."

Eyes trained on his retreating figure, Ruby could only scold herself for forgetting to ask about that super cool sword. Turning around, she spotted the rabbit faunus staring at the door that had concealed Archer's form as it closed.

"Ah, sorry for causing trouble." She apologized, raising a hand to scratch the back of her head. "Anyway, have a good night!" Turning around, she made to leave.

"Wait!"

Spinning on her heel, Ruby made eye contact with the girl.

"Thanks." She said.

Ruby smiled at her before turning around to leave again.

With any luck, no one would find out about this incident. Otherwise, Yang wouldn't let her hear the end of it.

* * *

**A/N: Er... I don't really like this chapter...**

**At first, I thought it was bad simply because I'd been writing all day, but it really was in Dal's outline... Maybe I didn't EXECUTE it right?... I know I said I'll not renovate any of this until the season ends, but I might make an exception for this chapter.  
**

**And before anyone talks about Ruby being out of character, for the second scene, I'd agree, but Dal did a soft rewrite of most of the characters, so I actually don't know what OOC even is in this loophole anymore. In fact, he also rewrote a lot of RWBY just because he didn't like it after volume 3, so there's that. Sadly, most of the planning from this point on is up to me now. ****Anyway, there are things we need to address.**

**First, Marx Avian II's critique is legit. He said moon cell by mistake, but his point still stands. This story isn't logical in major plot developments. Shout out to him.  
**

**It's going to change, but that seems to be a little bit far into the future. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to plan the rewriting of this story, so I can't actually do so until it's on break or something. Now, there's another review that needs to be addressed. I'm going to take a page from Dal's book and quote it.**

**Any hardcore reader of this story, please don't attack this guy if you disagree with him. Be civil and calm.**

**Reviewer: "Nothing changed."**

**Slatyr: Of course not, it was only a 3000 word chapter.**

**Reviewer: "Just like all the other Authors out there, you make Archer Jaune's Teacher."**

**Slatyr: No I didn't. Archer literally banned Jaune from his class because he sucked.  
**

**Reviewer: "From there I can guess where your fic will take after that."**

**Slatyr: Oh no, we have a detective on our hands. He's figured me out to a T. Might as well pack up my bags and leave since he can predict my entire plot. Curses... he's probably going to leak spoilers as well. I hate to say this, guys, but we may all be at his mercy.  
**

**Reviewer: "Dude, some originality would be nice."**

**Slatyr: Well, I couldn't agree more, but what can ya do?**

**Anyway, this chapter was weird as heck, but I honestly can't tell if I'm the only one who thinks so. See ya.**


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